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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454746">Open Skies</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erberor/pseuds/Erberor'>Erberor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Nuzlocke Challenge, Pokemon, Pokemon Death, Pokemon Fanfiction, Talking Pokemon, dungeonlocke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:00:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,343</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454746</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erberor/pseuds/Erberor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The world's a little broken... well, a lot broken, really. But that doesn't mean we can't pick up the pieces and build something better.</p><p>And we'll do it together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. An Unremarkable Forest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story is based on a playthrough of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, with the following rules<br/>-If either the player character or the partner faint, the run is over.</p><p>-Only one Pokemon may be recruited from each dungeon, and it must be the first Pokemon that asks to join.</p><p>-Duplicate Clause: If the first recruit in a dungeon is the same species as a Pokemon already on the team, it may be skipped as many times as necessary to avoid duplicates.</p><p>-If a recruited Pokemon faints, it is dead and must be dismissed from the team.</p><p>-Only one reviver seed of any kind may be used in each story dungeon. Extras found in dungeons must be eaten immediately. No reviver seeds may be used during side jobs or other excursions.</p><p>-Escape Clause: Escape orbs can only ever be used one time per story dungeon. This means that the option of escape exists the first time through a dungeon, but if an escape orb is used, the next attempt at that dungeon must be seen through to the end.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It started in a forest. Nowhere in particular, just a tiny wooded cluster not even marked on the charts. I was just a little Bulbasaur, out gathering herbs, and maybe looking for a new flower to bring to my garden while I was out, when something crashed through the trees behind me, landing with a harsh thud.<br/>
<br/>
I peeked through the bushes and saw a Pikachu lying face down in the dirt. He didn't look like a feral, but I couldn't be sure without seeing his eyes. Still, I couldn't just leave him there. I asked if he was alright, and he muttered out some nonsense before finally getting a hold of how to speak.<br/>
<br/>
“Where am I... who are you, and... why the hell am I naked?”<br/>
<br/>
That was… a weird thing to say. I hardly knew anyone who wore clothes regularly beyond the odd bandana or scarf. “Uh, I’m Lily. This is just some tiny forested cluster in the middle of nowhere, and… why… wouldn’t you be naked?”<br/>
<br/>
He opened his eyes and stared blearily forward until he managed to focus on me, and… he froze. Just, staring right at me. “So… you… can understand me?”<br/>
<br/>
I tilted my head in confusion and gave him a questioning look. “Um, yes?”<br/>
<br/>
He blinked a couple of times, before saying, “Right… Sorry, I just… hit my head. You know. I’m a little… confused.” He slowly sat up, and looked down. He kept looking down at himself for a long while, before finally taking a deep breath and muttering, “right… of course.”<br/>
<br/>
He was just getting to his feet when I asked who he was, and I watched as his eyes went wide, and stunned panic rushed through him. He fell back down, stammering for a second, “wh-who… who a-am...“ before taking another deep breath. He looked up at me and, while his voice was fairly steady, his face was slightly quivering. “I… don’t really remember much. Must have been the fall. Uh, my name’s Erik though. I remember that much.” He stuck out a paw toward me and... I just stared at it, completely confused. “Oh, sorry, it’s a… greeting where I’m from. I think. A handshake. You just, uh…” He grabbed one paw with the other and shook them up and down. Bit of an odd greeting, but it seemed fine. I extended a vine and held it in front of him. He smiled and chuckled awkwardly before grabbing it and gently shaking it.<br/>
<br/>
“You’re a little weird, but aren’t we all? Come with me back to Ventus, I’m sure Felicia can help you-” I was cut off by a terrified voice from the trees. “HELP! HELP, SOMEONE HELP!”<br/>
<br/>
I knew that voice, it was Tella, from back in town. I knew the Butterfree well, we worked together with herbs a lot. She flew into the clearing and, while it’s always hard to read the expression on a bug’s face, it was clear she was on the verge of panic. “Vilo is missing!”<br/>
<br/>
“Shouldn’t he be back in town?” I asked.<br/>
<br/>
“ I-I caught his scent just a few minutes ago, he’s heading for the core!”<br/>
<br/>
“What?” That little Caterpie was going there? That was the big thing they told us… never go deeper into the clusters. Only the recon teams were ever supposed to go in there. And with someone so young, so weak… I had to do something. “Go get help, we'll start looking for him here. Where did you smell him?"<br/>
<br/>
Tella pointed with a couple legs and told us to be careful before flying off. I knew that much. I'd been a forager for a few years by then. Erik looked at me and asked, “what’s going on?”<br/>
<br/>
"A child is in danger, come on, we've got to look for him!" I answered before running off. He followed close behind, though he was running, and often stumbling, on two feet, rather than going on all fours. Even still, he was keeping up with me just fine. That bothered me. It always bothered me when I couldn’t outpace people. Too many people telling me I was too slow...<br/>
<br/>
A few minutes later, the trees started to thin, and we arrived at the edge of the isle. As we approached, Erik started slowing down, looking around with wide eyes at the isles floating around and above us. He then slowly came to the edge, and looked down. Far below was another isle, drifting near the bottom of the cluster. Below that… there was only the dull grey of the distant clouds. I came up next to him and asked if he was alright. He nodded slowly, still staring downward, and quietly said, “yeah… I just… try not to go to the edge very often.”<br/>
<br/>
He really was a weird one… I left him to stare out at the sky and took a look around. I found… a piece of the edge that had given way recently. There was a long strand of silk hanging off as well, which could only mean it was where Vilo had gone… and fallen. Into the open sky.<br/>
<br/>
“He fell here… didn’t he.” Erik came up and said in a hushed voice. I nodded. We sat there for a minute, and right as I was about to turn away, Erik pointed at a clump of rocks on the nearest isle a few dozen feet away. "Wait, look there!"<br/>
<br/>
I looked closer, and saw the rocks, along with a few snapped branches. It wasn't below us right then, but it could have been earlier, if the isles were drifting just right. So… there was a good chance Vilo had landed down there when the rock gave way.<br/>
<br/>
That meant he was on one of the inner isles. Even in a cluster as small as this one, that was dangerous. Strictly speaking, protocol demanded that I sit tight and wait for a recon team to arrive and deal with things, but we were on the far side of the cluster, it could be more than an hour before anyone got here, and by then… It might be too late.<br/>
<br/>
I had to do something, but… I wasn’t in recon. I’d dreamed of joining a team since I was a kid, but I was just a forager. I could hold myself in a fight, sure, but I didn’t have the training, the tools, or anything. I was nobody.<br/>
<br/>
Just like everyone always said. Bulbasaurs aren’t fit for recon. We’re too awkward, too slow. Most of us can’t even climb. I tried to be different. I tried to prove them wrong. I’d learned how to throw a grapple and climb ropes with vines and stubby legs. But what did it matter? The guild still wouldn’t let me join. I wasn’t good enough.<br/>
<br/>
<em>I should just focus on my garden</em>, I thought. That’s what everyone always told me to do. I loved my garden. I was good with plants. It helped me… stay centered.<br/>
<br/>
"A fall like that… he might be hurt." Erik said. "Can't we do anything?"<br/>
<br/>
But...<br/>
<br/>
I wanted to do more.<br/>
<br/>
Right then, I made a decision. It was a stupid decision, the kind that gets people killed. But it was also the kind that might save a life. I rammed a vine into my one of my packs, and pulled out a grapple kit. With one swift motion, I threw the hook at a tree near the edge of the next isle, and watched as years of practice sent it flying right to the target. “You ever hear of the Ventus Reconnaissance teams?” I asked Erik. He shook his head. “Well, they do a lot of things. Exploration, research, you name it. But one of their duties is to save Pokemon in need.”<br/>
<br/>
“And you're on one of these teams?”<br/>
<br/>
“No.” I finished tying the free end of the rope, and hooked my harness’ safety lines onto it. “But today we’re going to become one.”<br/>
<br/>
I was about to start going down the rope when Erik interrupted what felt like a really cool moment for me. “Uh, do you have another one of those harnesses? I mean, I’m happy to help, I just… would rather… you know.”<br/>
<br/>
…He had a point. I took out my last grapple and looped the rope around him in an approximation of a harness. It left something to be desired, but at least the rope was silk; much lighter and thinner than hemp. I left him to tie himself onto the rope and made my way down.<br/>
<br/>
He was slow. Painfully so. He didn’t even get moving right away, he just stood there, starting at the rope in the same way he seemed to stare at everything else, before finally grabbing onto it with all four legs and inching his way down. He eventually made it down just fine, and we started searching.<br/>
<br/>
This isle was our best bet for finding Vilo, so we just started scanning the woods and calling for him. I wasn’t just looking for the Caterpie, though… even though we couldn’t see it, we were a lot closer to the core than before, and I could feel it scratching at the back of my mind. There were bound to be ferals somewhere, even in a cluster as small as this one, and they were only going to be more aggressive the farther in we got.<br/>
<br/>
We were maybe halfway across the isle when a pair of Wurmples dropped out of the trees and started stinging. I immediately tried to peel it off of me with my vines, but the one on me proved too stubborn to be moved. So, I ran to the nearest tree and tackled it head on, or rather, Wurmple on. It fell off, completely dazed, and started to stagger back into the trees. I turned and saw Erik angrily shouting at the other Wurmple. "Get off of me, you stupid bug!" Just as I was about to help, he managed to wedge his foot under the thing and pry it off with a heaving kick that sent it flying. He then ran up to it and kicked it in the head hard enough to crack its shell.<br/>
<br/>
Erik stood there for a minute, looking down at the wounded bug, breathing heavily. I came over, and looked at the eyes. As I'd expected, they were a solid green, and gleamed with a faint light. Ferals. I told Erik we should keep moving, and he just quietly followed me further inward. We ran into a couple more ferals on our way in, but they were all on their own, and none of them managed to hurt us worse than a few cuts and bruises. There was a close call when a pidgey nearly managed to get my eyes with its pecking, but Erik bashed it in the face with his grappling hook, knocking it out. Eventually, we reached the edge, and saw the core.<br/>
<br/>
Despite it being such a small cluster, the core was enormous—a sphere easily ten times my height—and the whole thing crackled with the same green light that was in the ferals' eyes, only a thousand times brighter. I had never been so close to one before, and… it hurt. I was getting a headache just being near it, and it only got worse the longer I looked at it. Most disturbing of all was how quickly it was affecting my thoughts… already I was starting to feel little pangs of sourceless anger, and it would only get worse the longer I was exposed. We had to find that Caterpie quickly…<br/>
<br/>
We started calling his name, but the core put out a constant thrumming drone that made it hard to hear anything. Even still, we eventually heard a tiny voice crying. We rushed to an outcrop, where a huge tree was in the process of falling off the isle. The whole thing was horizontal, just barely hanging on by part of its roots. And down at the other end of those roots was Vilo, clinging to a clump of dirt and rock stuck to the tree, well below our reach. He was just crying, not calling for help or anything... When we appeared at the edge, he screamed in clear terror, but calmed down a little when I reassured him it was me, not some feral. I told him to stay calm and tried to reach him with my vines, but they didn’t even go halfway. A six foot reach is always so much until you really need more…<br/>
<br/>
“Lily, the tree’s starting to fall.” Erik’s voice shook a little as he spoke. Just then, a root broke with a great crunching tear, and the whole thing shifted. Vilo screamed again. My mind churned through option after option, but the pressure of the core made it hard to think. I couldn’t reach him, I was out of rope… rope. Of course. I told Erik to undo his harness and lower the rope, but just as he was about to start undoing the knots, another root broke. There were only a few left, clinging to the rock, and we could hear them beginning to break.<br/>
<br/>
“No time, we… we have to…” Erik muttered, pacing frantically, before stopping in place, looking over the edge, and finally turning to me. He handed me his grapple, with wide, pleading eyes, and said, “<em>don’t let me fall.</em>”<br/>
<br/>
It wasn’t what I expected… Not so much what he said, but... the fear in his voice. In his eyes. This Pikachu was more afraid of falling than anyone I’d ever seen. It was the kind of fear that makes you seize up into a whimpering mess, the kind of terror that makes blood run cold and hearts stop.<br/>
<br/>
He jumped.<br/>
<br/>
For the tiniest moment I was stunned, before reality set in like a crashing boulder as the last roots started tearing out of the rock. I looked down, realized Erik wasn’t going to have enough slack to reach Vilo, and, against every instinct, I wrapped my other vine around a sturdy looking bit of broken root, and cast myself off the edge as well.<br/>
<br/>
I drew my vines out to full length and braced myself, but little could have prepared me for the blast of pain that shot through me when Erik hit the end of his tether and my vines went taut. I thought they were going to rip out of me, but I managed to hold on. And so did Erik, onto Vilo. He managed to grab him before the tree fell, but… judging by the way he shouted in pain a moment before, he probably seriously hurt something when he hit the end of the rope. Which meant he couldn't climb up.<br/>
<br/>
So there we stayed. Dangling from the edge of an isle, unable to climb back up, and completely exposed to the core.<br/>
<br/>
I don’t know how long we were hanging. Everything just blended together into one great nightmare… So much of me was in pain. My vines, my head… and the core’s influence kept getting worse. I tried to force it out, thinking of quiet days tending my garden, sitting among the flowers. But those little pangs of anger grew into spikes of frustration, and even outright rage that I was stuck there, and if I would just let Erik and Vilo fall, I could pull myself up and rest!<br/>
<br/>
And then I would remember the fear. Erik’s fear. And if he could jump off an isle in spite of that… I could hold on.<br/>
<br/>
I asked myself why.<br/>
<br/>
Why <em>did</em> I have to hold on?<br/>
<br/>
Eventually… I came to an odd answer. It arrived, fully formed, from the emptiness of my aching mind. It felt true to me in a way that few things do. “Because you keep going. That’s just what you do.”<br/>
<br/>
And so I held on. I held when the wind started to blow, and I held when the anger rose. I held when every part of me screamed for relief, until finally… my vision started to go black, and my grip on both the isle and reality started to fade. My hold loosened, and we began to fall.<br/>
<br/>
There was a part of me that accepted falling. I was tired. Too tired to keep holding on, and it was time to rest.<br/>
<br/>
I barely noticed when a set of talons grabbed me, and carried me away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Recuperate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I dreamed of a dead place. A landscape of barren rock with barely enough light filtering through the mass of clouds above to see that it stretched to the horizon. In a way, it was amazing. I’d never seen so much land before, not in all my life, but there was nothing there, only dust and stone. Not a sign of life, save for a deep sound just at the edge of hearing, something enormous, powerful, and immeasurably distant. I tried to find where it was coming from, but everywhere I went, it stayed the same. The same grey landscape, and the same rumbling sound, until I finally slipped into reality.<br/><br/>I woke up with the dream still clear in my mind, lingering in my head like an unwelcome guest. At the very least, I woke up to the familiar smell of herbs. I looked around, and sure enough, I was in Felicia’s clinic. All around me, bundles of drying leaves, roots, and berries were hanging from the walls and ceiling, filling the air with a cacophony of scents that seemed to offend most Pokémon, but made me feel right at home. I’d worked with herbs since I was a child, growing and mixing them with my mother. She was one of the best healers I knew, even though all she had to work with were herbs, salves, and bandages. Felicia though… she was on another level.<br/><br/>She was across the room, treating an injured Zangoose. The moment I started to stretch a little, one of the Audino’s ears twitched, and she called out “Don’t you move, Lily, I’ll be right there.” She continued her treatment, holding a hand just over a gash on the Zangoose’s leg. Her hand glowed with a warm light, and the wound knit itself together. Felicia was one of the only Pokémon I knew who could do that, and even though it really only worked with surface level wounds, it was amazing.<br/><br/>With that done, She immediately started giving me an aggravatingly thorough health check at the same time, poking at me with both her hands and those feelers on her ears. “Oh, Lily, you had me so worried, I—open your mouth a second—what did you even do? The guild’s hardly told me anything—take a deep breath for me—they just said they found you dangling from an isle holding Vilo and the Pikachu and told me to take care of—Do you feel any pain when I do this? Yes? What about here?—that was three days a-”<br/><br/>“Three days?!” I yelled. “My-”<br/><br/><b>“Do not shout in my clinic.”</b> Felicia said with the voice of absolute doctoral authority all healers seem to have. “My patients need their rest. Don’t worry, your garden’s being taken care of. Tella’s seen to that. Yes, including the flowers.” She turned to the back room of the clinic and called her assistant. “Aiko! Lily’s awake, get her a dried sitrus root.”<br/><br/>A vague skittering noise from the dark room told me Aiko was already working on it. Felicia turned back to me. “I need to see another patient right now, but you’re going to tell me everything that happened when I’m finished, alright? Just don’t move. Especially not your vines.”<br/><br/>For the first time, I noticed that both my vines were still completely extended, and lying in neat little coils beside me. That little detail was probably Aiko’s work, he was always… meticulous about things. They still hurt at the base. Quite a lot, really. I looked up at Felicia and asked how badly they were hurt.<br/><br/>She sighed. “It’s hard to say. You’re the only member of your species that I’ve treated before. The base of your vines is the issue, and their structure is unique to the Venusaur family, so it’s difficult for me to tell what it’s supposed to look like when it’s healthy. They’re in bad shape though, that much is clear from the tears and bleeding. They’ve improved a fair bit in the last couple days, though. I imagine you’ll be fine..”<br/><br/>As she finished saying that, Aiko came in, crawling on the ceiling as he so often did. He was a Parasect, and he never failed to creep me out. I think part of it what his solid white eyes… they made him look like a feral. “Chew. Do not swallow,” he said as he handed me a shriveled root. He always sounded like he was reading from a carefully prepared script of a language he didn’t know. Everything was pronounced correctly, but it sounded… off somehow. Still, he was the best herbalist in Ventus, so everyone put up with his little oddities.<br/><br/>After I’d chewed on the root a bit, I told Felicia what happened. As expected, she gave me a lecture for going into a cluster without an escort, but I just kept telling the story. When I got to the part about the core, she nodded and told me, “I’ve done what I can for the core exposure. How bad is your headache?”<br/><br/>“I, uh, don’t actually have one. Aside from my vines, I just feel exhausted.”<br/><br/>Felicia stopped mixing the salve she was working on, and narrowed her eyes “That doesn’t seem right. How long were you exposed for?”<br/><br/>“I don’t know. Long enough that I was just passing out when someone picked me up.”<br/><br/>She dropped the salve and stared at me. The bowl smashed, spilling its contents and provoking an enraged screeching sound from Aiko, who immediately rushed out and started cleaning up the mess. “You… what?”<br/><br/>I frowned. I didn’t know any of the details about core exposure beyond the headaches and rage. I said it again, and she went deathly quiet. She stared at me, and after a minute that felt like an eternity, she told me… “You should have gone feral.” She was deathly calm. It was so strange to hear her being so… emotionless. “Losing consciousness is the last stage of the process. An hour or two later, they get up and start attacking anything that isn’t another feral. Nobody’s ever recovered from that.”<br/><br/>We both went quiet. I was stunned. Stunned and… a little scared. Eventually, Felicia just muttered, “Maybe this explains why you were comatose for so long…” She sighed, and smiled. “Look, you’re awake, you’re sane, and you’re still in one piece. That’s all that matters.” She came up and gave me a hug, which really just amounted to her wrapping her arms around my bulb. It helped. “Now, I need to go check on Vilo again. By the sound of things, it’s possible your friend there protected him from the worst of the exposure, but I need to make sure he’s really alright.”<br/><br/>The next couple hours slid by quietly as I tried to ignore the pain in my vines, and pondered why I hadn’t turned feral. Though… I really didn’t even know where to begin. The recon guild didn’t even know what the cores were. We knew that they kept the isles afloat, and they turned Pokémon feral. That’s about it.<br/><br/>Erik eventually woke up groaning. “Strangest… dream, I-” He opened his eyes and looked around. He had his right arm in a sling, which was firmly tied to his chest. “No… that was real… wasn’t it.”<br/><br/>“What do you mean?” I asked.<br/><br/>He paused for a moment. “When I jumped off. It just… doesn’t seem real, but my shoulder still hurts like hell, so it must have happened.” He went quiet, and I think he was really just thinking out loud when he said, “but…I think that other bit was a dream though.”<br/><br/>“You had a weird dream too?” I turned to face him, trying not to tug on my vines. The dream was still incredibly vivid in my memory. “I was in this… I don’t know how to describe it, except that the land stretched on to the horizon, just like in the elders' stories."<br/><br/>"The stories?"<br/><br/>"You know, the ones you hear about the world before The Shattering.”<br/><br/>“Right… of course. I saw something just like that. The ground went on forever, but there wasn’t anything there. No grass or trees, just rock and… I think it was ash. And then there was this sound I could barely hear-”<br/><br/>“Something deep and powerful?” I interrupted.<br/><br/>“Um… yeah. And far away. Did you try to find it too?”<br/><br/>I nodded. “Never even seemed to get closer.”<br/><br/>“Then it really was the same dream.” He said. “That doesn’t just… happen. Right?”<br/><br/>I tried to think of what could have possibly caused it, but there was only one thing that came to mind. “It’s the core. We were exposed for too long.” I said slowly.<br/><br/>“That sounds bad.” Erik muttered. I explained everything Felicia told me, about how we should have gone feral. He took it quietly, just staring straight ahead and nodding. He didn’t say anything for several minutes, until he started looking at me funny, squinting and leaning closer, until he finally declared, “there’s… something weird about your eye. The color’s different. The left one's a deeper red than the other.”<br/><br/>“Wait, what?” I looked around for something reflective, but Felicia generally kept the only mirror in the clinic in the back room. “Aiko! Can you bring me the mirror?”<br/><br/>He came out of the back and addressed me. “Small… bulb. Flower.” It astounded me how he always managed to forget names.<br/><br/>“The mirror? Flat, shiny thing?” He stared at me, completely motionless. “You know, the smooth metal plate?”<br/><br/>“Smooth metal… yes. Yes. Smooth metal.”<br/><br/>He skittered off and came back carefully holding the square of well polished metal in his claws. It took me a moment to see what Erik said, but he was right. My left eye wasn't quite the same deep magenta as the other. It was darker, more red… And that felt unsettling. Between overexposure, the dream, and change in my eye… something was happening to me, and I didn’t have a clue what it was.<br/><br/>“What about me?” Erik leaned over and tried to look at the mirror. I had to prompt Aiko to bring it to him, but once he did, it wasn’t very long before Erik nodded and leaned back. “Yep, one eye’s different. My right one is slightly blue.” Again, it was really hard to see, but it was there, just the tiniest hint of deep blue in that eye. “We’ll add that to the growing list of mysteries, I guess.” He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I just wish I had any idea what’s going on,” he muttered.<br/><br/>We sat there for a while, waiting for Felicia to come back. Aiko did bring Erik a sitrus root after he tried to adjust his sling and yelped in pain. He just scuttled into the room with one, and told him “Chew. Do not swallow.” In exactly the same way he’d said it to me. Eventually, we heard Felicia enter, but she was followed by a couple other Pokémon. She was arguing with them.<br/><br/>“They are my patients, and they are in no condition to be walking around!” She said as she came through the door with a big basket of cloth.<br/><br/>“I didn’t say anything about walking around, we just want to have a word with them about what happened.” The Granbull behind her replied.<br/><br/>“Oh, is that so, mister ‘we need to speak to the Bulbasaur’? You couldn’t even be bothered to learn her name? She’s lived here for four years now!”<br/><br/>“Not everyone has your memory for faces, Felicia.” The other tag along, a Delcatty, said.<br/><br/>“You could try a little harder!”<br/><br/>“We just want to-” The granbull started to shout, and while I couldn’t see the look Felicia gave him as she prepared her <b>“do not shout”</b> voice, it must have been impressive, because he shut up well before a voice called from the door.<br/><br/>“I thought I informed you all that I would speak to them myself.” It said. It was a calm voice that spoke with authority, power, and above all else, knowledge. It was a voice almost everyone in Ventus knew.<br/><br/>Arc, the Alakzam. Leader of team Arclight. He stepped in, not floating like so many of his kind always did. He said it was because “A powerful mind does not neglect the body”, something he took to heart. I’d seen Kadabras and even another Alakazam before, and they always looked incredibly weak. Arc, on the other hand, looked healthy, if not a little strong. He helped found the recon guild, he’d saved countless lives… he was a legend.<br/><br/>Everyone went quiet as he walked up to Felicia. “May I have a brief word with Lily and the new arrival?” He said.<br/><br/>Felicia stood there for a moment, still ready to have a stern word with the Granbull, before finally letting him through. “Alright, but the Pikachu’s still unconscious, so don’t go trying to wake him before he’s ready. And don’t go stressing Lily out, she needs rest!”<br/><br/>“Uh, n-no it’s fine.” I nearly choked up. I could barely believe that he remembered my name. I’d probably only seen him a few dozen times since we first met, and I certainly hadn’t spoken to him since then. This Pokémon was my role model… the one who inspired me to leave my family and came to Ventus. The one who inspired me to join a recon team.<br/><br/>“Uh, I’m awake now, so-” Erik started to say, but he was cut off when Felicia ran up to him and started giving him the same sort of rapid checkup she’d given me when I woke up. Arc just stepped past and sat down in front of the straw pad I was on.<br/><br/>“So, Theo tells me he found you dangling for dear life near the core.” He said it is such a calm voice, like he was commenting on the weather.<br/><br/>“Wait, Theo? The Charizard? They sent your team out to rescue us?”<br/><br/>“Not as such. Arclight was on leave, but Theo heard someone was in trouble and flew off of his own accord.. Good thing, too. It would have taken a good few minutes for them to get a team ready to search for you, and as I understand it, you didn’t have that kind of time.”<br/><br/>I thought back to the moments before I passed out. He caught me just after my hold slipped… “Any later and I’d be dead.”<br/><br/>“Now, tell me what happened. Tell me how a forager wound up basking in the light of a core, hanging onto life by her own vines.”<br/><br/>I told him everything, down to the moments before I slipped away. I expected him to say something about how I broke protocol by going deeper into the cluster, but he stayed quiet until the end. Though when I mentioned Erik’s amnesia, he glanced over at him and narrowed his eyes. Erik shrunk away under his gaze, and I think he might have tried to hide if Felicia wasn’t still doting on him.<br/><br/>When I finished the story, Arc leaned back and looked at me, one hand on his chin. “So… what’s the guild going to do with me?” I asked, feeling grim.<br/><br/>“We haven’t come to a decision. There are quite a few in the guild who think you recklessly endangered yourself and should be disciplined. Others think you should be allowed to continue foraging.” That made my heart sink... and my blood boil. If they forbid me from foraging, they’d never let me join a recon team, and I would not let them take that away from me. “I suspect a few of them will change their tune when they hear the full story, though,” he smiled, “I, for one, think your performance was exemplary.”<br/><br/>That, at least, was good news. “If we hadn’t been there, Vilo would be dead.” I said, with just a little piece of the indignant anger rising into my voice, “they can’t ignore that. We did the right thing.”<br/><br/>“I’ll see to it that they don’t.” Arc said before turning to Erik. Felicia was just finishing up with him. I didn’t catch much of what she’d said, but I overheard that his right shoulder had been badly dislocated, and the other had some nasty bruising, but he’d heal just fine. Arc introduced himself and asked about Erik’s amnesia.<br/><br/>Erik tensed up immediately. “Yeah, um... I can’t remember much of anything before I woke up in those woods… Why do you ask?”<br/><br/>“With your permission, I could take a look inside your mind, see if it’s something abnormal. I’m no expert on these matters, but-”<br/><br/>“No, no, nonononono.” Erik scrambled back against the wall, “You do <em>not</em> get to go poking through my head. No. <b>No.</b>”<br/><br/>Arc responded calmly. “Listen, this doesn’t sound like a simple case of retrograde amnesia. It’s likely something has cursed you in some way. I may be able to find out, it’ll take just a moment.”<br/><br/>Erik paused for a second, “Maybe…” he looked down at his paw, “No. No. I’m sorry, but I just… I don’t want anyone going through my thoughts, alright?”<br/><br/>Arc nodded and stood up. “Very well, I will, of course, respect your privacy, but please bear in mind that my offer still stands should you change your mind.” He turned to face both of us, “I best return to the guild. You two rest up, there’s no doubt you’ll be hearing from us soon.”<br/><br/>With that, he left us to rest. The rest of the day passed by slowly and quietly. Erik didn’t say much, and I didn’t either. There was too much to think about, too much to process in one evening. On top of that, I was just exhausted. So, I slept early, and I slept long.<br/><br/>With sleep came the dream, as bleak and vivid as it was the first time. The same wasteland, the same deep sound booming through it. I tried to find the source again, but I still had nothing to show for it when I woke up, save for the vivid memory of it all haunting my mind. It was just… too clear. Dreams usually fade from memory if I don’t focus on them, but with this one I couldn’t get it out of my head.<br/><br/>Normally, I’d keep myself busy and distracted by tending my garden, but I was confined to the little straw pad I was sitting on until my wounds healed, so that just left me with conversation. I talked with Felicia as much as I could, about herbs and medicine, gardening and whatever gossip came through the clinic. She couldn’t be chatting with me all day, though, which left me with nobody but Erik to talk to.<br/><br/>Erik didn’t have much to say, though. He’d respond when I talked to him, but it was mostly me doing the talking. Rather, he just… watched. He was constantly razor focused on something, watching everything and everyone that came into the clinic. It almost seemed a little creepy, but… in the moment when he saw something new, his jaw would drop just a little, and he'd get this look in his eye… a look of wonder, marveling at the world around him. It was… kind of fascinating in its own way.<br/><br/>I didn't quite realize that I was staring at him watching the clinic until he met my eyes and asked, "uh, what are you looking at?"<br/><br/>I snapped out of my own observation and fumbled for an answer. "Oh, nothing, I just… I mean I could ask you the same thing. You're always watching things."<br/><br/>"I… like to keep an eye on what's going on, thàt's all. It's not like there's much else to do."<br/><br/>"You could try talking to me, to start. You've been awfully quiet."<br/><br/>"Oh, right." He shifted his sling a little and bit his lip. I think he was nervous. "Sorry, I don't… I'm not very good at noticing that sort of thing, when people want to talk to me. I think, anyway. That feels like what it is, but I don't really have any memories to base it on."<br/><br/>"Exactly how can you not notice things when you’re always looking at stuff?”<br/><br/>“I imagine it’s usually because I’m too busy looking at something.”<br/><br/>The conversation died down after that. Erik stayed quiet, and I stayed bored all the way to nightfall. The dream came again, but at the very least, it seemed to be getting less blazingly vivid. It was easier to forget about it and focus on anything other than how, by all accounts, I should have gone mad.<br/><br/>The day was every bit as boring as the last, and Erik remained a frustratingly quiet bunkmate. Eventually, I got fed up with his brief responses and complete lack of contribution and just asked, “don’t you have anything to talk about? Trying to have a conversation with you is like pulling weeds.”<br/><br/>He scowled a little. “You try holding a conversation without mentioning anything that happened before I woke up.”<br/><br/>That got me quiet. He had a very real point there… But then something hit me. “Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you about. That day, when you handed me your rope and told me not to let you fall… You were afraid.”<br/><br/>“Terrified.” He said quietly.<br/><br/>“You were more afraid of falling than anyone I’ve ever seen.” I paused, and recalled that moment. His shaking voice, his wide eyes… “And you jumped anyway.”<br/><br/>He stared straight ahead, and nodded.<br/><br/>“Why?”<br/><br/>He went quiet for a long time. The bustle of the clinic continued in the background, but it felt like all the sounds died away while he thought. “I… don’t know. Not exactly. Except that… someone had to do something.” He took a deep breath. “And that someone was me.”<br/><br/>“But… how did you break past that terror?”<br/><br/>“I don’t know. Suddenly it just… wasn’t important.”<br/><br/>Everything went quiet again, and this time it stayed quiet. Erik wasn’t looking around the clinic anymore. He was huddled against the wall, staring into space. I knew enough to let him think it out on his own.<br/><br/>So, the second day passed, and the third slid by as slowly as the others. I was really starting to get agitated with having to sit around all day. It just felt like I had to be doing something… I could be gardening, or foraging, or anything else productive, but I was stuck in the clinic. And that’s not even getting into how worried I was starting to get about the guild… They provided all my foraging equipment, a lot of which was really hard to come by, and if they took that away from me, it’d be a nightmare trying to get it on my own…<br/><br/>And they’d probably never even think about letting me join recon.<br/><br/>It was almost a relief when the guild messenger arrived on the fourth day. Felicia tried to send him away, but I heard the little Poochyena say something about how “the higher ups finally made up their mind and want to see them”.<br/><br/>“It’s alright, Felicia,” I said, getting to my feet, “I can go.”<br/><br/>“Oh no you don’t. Lily, your vines are still-”<br/><br/>I started retracting my vines, staring her down. It hurt, but I was done sitting around. “I need to hear this,” I said firmly. Felicia blinked a couple times, then sighed and let the messenger lead us to the guild.<br/><br/>The guild hall was by far the biggest building in Ventus. It housed the guild, and very nearly everything it needed to function, from storerooms filled with supplies, to the massive aviary where the guild fliers were always on standby, to the guildmaster’s office, which is precisely where we were headed. We passed by more than a dozen recon teams on our way there, all bustling about. It was rare to see anyone standing still for more than a few seconds.<br/><br/>“So this is the guild you keep talking about?” Erik said as we walked.<br/><br/>“Yeah. This is where I’ve wanted to be for years.” I responded, trying to keep my worries from overtaking me.<br/><br/>“I know joining recon is important to you, but… why do you want it so much?”<br/><br/>“I want to help Pokémon in need. I want to do something <em>more</em> with my life. And… You remember Arc?” He nodded, “he saved my life years ago. I wanted to be like him. So many Pokémon told me I couldn’t,” I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. “Arc told me otherwise.”<br/><br/>Erik nodded. “Those sound like good reasons to me.” We nearly got run over by a recon team sprinting for the aviary. Probably had a rescue assignment. Erik caught his balance and said something that seemed like it should have been addressed earlier. “I’m not totally sure why they want to talk to me, though.”<br/><br/>We arrived at the Guildmaster’s door before I could think about that for too long. Just as we were walking up, I caught part of an argument happening on the other side.<br/><br/>“-would be a waste of guild resources that are desperately needed elsewhere.” one voice said.<br/><br/>“Nothing we do will mean anything if we don’t find a way to fix this.” The other said in a familiarly calm tone. “We’re running out of-”<br/><br/>“Master Ryker! I brought them!” Our escort barked at the door.<br/><br/>The argument stopped, and a moment later the door opened to reveal one of the grumpiest faces I’d ever seen. It didn’t speak of anger—no, it told of a constant, stewing frustration behind the Hypno’s stern gaze. “Ah. Lily and Erik. Come in.”<br/><br/>Erik stepped forward and nervously said, “Uh, sir? I don’t really know why you called me here, I have nothing to do with-.”<br/><br/>Ryker leaned over, and Erik shrunk down under his firm gaze. <b>“I said, come in.”</b><br/><br/>We stepped in without another word, and the Hypno sat down at one end of a table in the center of the room. The place was rather small, but everything inside it was beautifully crafted. The table was carved from beautiful dark wood, the windows were all fitted with pristine glass panes, and the bookcase at the back was filled with tomes that had to have cost a small fortune. I had to wonder just how much of the guild’s resources went into outfitting this one room.<br/><br/>Arc was sitting at the other end of the table, smiling just slightly. Ryker motioned for us to step forward, and he gave us a long examination before asking “You broke protocol and took on a rescue operation?”<br/><br/>My heart was racing. This was not starting well. “Yes, but I had to-”<br/><br/>Ryker held up a hand. “I asked for confirmation, not explanation.” He leaned in. “As you know, such a serious infraction of guild rules and <em>common sense</em> is typically grounds for immediate suspension of all cluster-bound operations for the individual in question, including foraging.”<br/><br/>Everything hinged on this Pokémon’s judgement. “But we saved-”<br/><br/><b>“Do not interrupt me, child.”</b> He commanded with cold, absolute authority. It was like when Felicia told me not to shout… only without a hint of care or kindness. “I have spent a considerable amount of time discussing the matter with my advisors. The situation is rather… unique, and many have advocated that your success should excuse your actions. Given their advice, and the <em>insistence</em> of an old friend-” Arc smiled a little brighter when Ryker said that, “-I have come to a decision.”<br/><br/>“You will no longer serve the guild as a forager.”<br/><br/>Everything went… gray. . My stomach wrenched into a knot, and my hopes sank to the bottom of my soul. <em>This can’t be happening,</em> I thought. <em>It can’t, not now, I... It shouldn’t, it-it-<br/><br/>It won’t.</em> I felt anger surge inside me.<br/><br/><em>I won’t let it.</em><br/><br/>I couldn’t let myself back down, not here, not with this. I couldn’t be weak. I was going to join recon, no matter what anyone said about how slow I was, how awkward I was, or anything else. I wanted it more than anything, more than anyone. I’d trained and worked for years, and I certainly wasn’t about to let this arrogant bastard stop me now.<br/><br/>“VILO WOULD HAVE DIED IF WE HADN’T GONE IN THERE!” I bellowed, shouting with every ounce of strength and anger I could muster. “You’re just going to ignore that? We risked our lives to save him! Isn’t that what this guild is all about? Helping Pokémon? If a recon team had been out there, they would have done the same-”<br/><br/>“<b><em>Because the both of you</em></b> have been extended an invitation to serve as part of a reconnaissance field team.”<br/><br/>...And all the anger fell away.<br/><br/>I wasn’t sure what to say. I wasn’t sure what to think.<br/><br/>It was finally happening.<br/><br/>Something inside me broke open, and... I smiled… I laughed... and I cried.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Ar'To</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Lily?"<br/><br/>I was still floating on a cloud of elated relief, barely registering that Erik was prodding me with his foot.<br/><br/>"Lily? They're, uh, they're staring <em>right at us</em> and <em><b>I don't know what to do</b></em>."<br/><br/>There was an urgency in his voice that drew my focus back to reality, back into that small room and Ryker's stern gaze.<br/><br/>"Now, if you're quite done…" he said slowly.<br/><br/>"Sorry… sir," I said, "I'm just a bit excited."<br/><br/>"Do not shout like that in my office again,” he said in that constantly stern tone. "You are to report to the guild hall tomorrow morning for an official field examination. Some might argue that you have already proven yourself, but it is about far more than demonstrating talent. The exam will help us shape your training plan to turn deficiencies into proficiencies. Mind you, I will need to see <em>both</em> of you here, or my offer is withdrawn. Recon teams can't just be cobbled together out of a bunch of misfits. Our work is too dangerous, too <em>important </em>to be left to any Pokémon who don't have complete trust in each other. You have already demonstrated a great deal of that, to my understanding.”<br/><br/>I looked at Erik, and our eyes met. <em>You trusted me to catch you… and I held on for you</em>, I thought.<br/><br/>"Should you pass your examination, you will be issued badges and equipment, and begin your training. You are dismissed."<br/><br/>With that, Ryker turned to the table and just… stopped paying attention to us. Arc got up and said he'd show us out, and we were quietly ushered out of the room.<br/><br/>We were kind of quiet for a minute as we walked through the guild hall. I still felt a little like I was floating on a cloud of my own joy, but Ryker had brought me a fair bit closer to the ground. "What is his <em>problem?</em>" I said once I was sure we were out of earshot.<br/><br/>"He remembers a lot of the world that was," Arc said, "and nowadays, he doesn't think he can ever get it back."<br/><br/>"Is that what you were arguing about in there?" Erik asked.<br/><br/>"Word of advice, Erik, if you're going to eavesdrop, be discrete about it," Erik went dead quiet when Arc said that. Arc then added, rather quietly, "but yes. We were."<br/><br/>That gave me pause. "You mean he doesn't think we should-" I started to say before Arc cut me off.<br/><br/>"A conversation for another time, and more importantly, another place." He gestured toward a few passing guild workers, and I think I got the message. Best we don't gossip about the guild master in the middle of the guild.<br/><br/>Arc led us to a side entrance, and stepped off the cobblestone path outside it. "Well, you best go get ready for tomorrow," he said. "You'll want to make a good showing for your examiner."<br/><br/>"Do you know anything about that examiner?" I asked. "Anything we should expect?"<br/><br/>"I've meddled enough as it stands. Any more interference, and Ryker might start thinking I'm playing favorites," Arc smiled.<br/><br/>"Actually… I've wanted to ask about that," I said. "You have done a <em>lot</em> for me. Not just in the last few days, you went out of your way to encourage me all those years ago. Why do all that for me?"<br/><br/>"You needed hope," he said, "and honestly, I've told a lot of young Pokémon that they could join a recon team when they get older, if they work for it. Unlike most of them, you went and did it.”<br/><br/>Heavy footsteps sounded from around the corner, and a powerful voice cut off my reply. “Arc! Where have you gone off to this time?” I turned, and saw a titanic green form step out. I recognized him immediately. He was even easier to spot than Arc, given that he was vastly taller than the Alakazam. Tarak, the third member of Arclight, and the only Tyranitar known to have survived The Shattering. He was almost four times my height, and far heavier. The only flier that could carry him was this enormous Corviknight from a far off cluster. “Arc! We’ve got an assignment!” he bellowed.<br/><br/>Arc got serious at the mention of an assignment, “What have we got? Scouting? Scavenging?”<br/><br/>“It’s a rescue. Team Daybreak’s pinned down, flier’s injured. We leave in 10 minutes.”<br/><br/>“I’ll be at the aviary shortly.” Arc turned back to Me and Erik. “Got to be off. Don’t worry about your examination, just do as you did a few days back and you’ll be fine!” With that, he went back into the guildhouse, this time levitating down the hall with surprising speed.<br/><br/>After a brief quiet, Erik spoke up. “I don't know about you, but... going forward, I think I’d like to avoid dangling off a cliff with a busted shoulder until I literally lose my mind. That was… not good. Let’s not do that again.”<br/><br/>“I don’t think our future missions will be quite that bad,” I laughed.<br/><br/>“Yeah, uh… future missions,” Erik muttered. He looked troubled…<br/><br/>“Something wrong?” I asked.<br/><br/>He stuttered out, “what? I, uh, it’s just that I don’t… I don’t have a place to stay.”<br/><br/>I looked at him, and he seemed a little nervous. “Oh, well, you can stay with me, I’ve got enough room. And don’t go asking if I’m sure. We’re partners, we should stick together.” Just thinking about being partners made me almost giddy, just… I was finally going to be on a recon team. I danced in place a little and told Erik to follow me as I started heading homeward.<br/><br/>Erik followed quietly, looking around at the various wood and stone buildings, along with all the passerby. Eventually, as he was looking up at the old oak tree looming over the hilltop in the middle of town, he sort of muttered, “this is a big island...”<br/><br/>I turned around. “That’s right, you haven’t seen Ar’To properly yet!”<br/><br/>“Ar’To? I thought you said this place was called Ventus.”<br/><br/>“It is, but that’s not… look, you’re not going to believe it unless I show you. Come with me!” I led him down a few more roads, out of the denser part of Ventus and into the farmland that fed it. Out there, away from all the buildings, you could see to the edge, and soon, we’d be able to see what I wanted to show Erik.<br/><br/>As we walked, he kept looking at the large towers near the edge. “Those windmills look a little strange… The sails are shaped weird,” he said.<br/><br/>“They’re not windmills, not exactly. I forget what they’re really called, but I guess you could call them wind-movers. I don’t know all the details, but they have Pokémon inside turn the sails, that makes the wind blow a certain way, and somehow that slowly moves Ar’To. Honestly, I don’t really know how it all works.”<br/><br/>“You’ve mobilized an island?” Erik’s eyes widened, “of this size? That’s insane!”<br/><br/>“Not an island, exactly. Come on!”<br/><br/>A couple minutes later, we reached a nice hill near the edge, and I told Erik to look out, to the left. He put a paw above his eyes to block out the sunlight, and his jaw dropped. “You <em>can’t</em> be serious,” he said. “That shouldn’t be… I mean surely nothing could ever get <em>that</em> big…” He turned to me, and threw his paws out. “This island is <em>alive?</em>”<br/><br/>I grinned. “Say hello to Ar’To, Flying home of the town of Ventus, and last of the great Torterra elders.” I looked down where Erik’s gaze was completely transfixed, and saw Ar’To’s enormous head, jutting out beneath the big rock formation where the old post office still stood. His gargantuan eyes lazily scanned the sky before him, and eventually, his head turned with titanic lethargy, and I swear that he was looking right at us. He opened his mouth, dislodging giant chunks of moss and lichen growing on his face, and spoke, quite possibly for the first time in weeks. His voice was not something heard, but felt, deep in your stomach. It was long, slow, and enormously powerful.<br/><br/>I wish I understood a word of it.<br/><br/>Erik stood there, staring down, occasionally biting his lip or twisting his face slightly in thought. “Now… I… I get how the isles float, that… makes sense. That’s normal, but that thing’s alive, and as far as I know, Tertorras don’t fly. I mean, I don’t know if I’ve ever met one or anything, but, uh, you know.”<br/><br/>“It’s <em>Torterra</em>,” I corrected, “and I wouldn’t blame you for not knowing much about them, not too many survived the Shattering. We’re not totally sure how he floats, but I’m told it’s probably the same thing that keeps rogue islands afloat without a core, you know?”<br/><br/>“Actually... I’m not super clear on how that works either.”<br/><br/>“Oh. Well, back during the Shattering, a small core forms in the rock without breaking it apart, and it keeps the isle floating from within. Same thing probably happened with Ar’To, but with a core big enough to keep all of him up here.”<br/><br/>“Wouldn’t having one of… <em>those</em> inside him drive him feral?”<br/><br/>“Well, I mean it’s probably buried somewhere in the thousand tons of rock on his back, so I can only assume the light’s not reaching him.”<br/><br/>Erik nodded, and seemed… not quite satisfied, but at least finished. He looked off at a cluster in the distance, ever so slowly drifting by. Looking at him, it seemed like he wanted to say something. It was in the way he kept twisting his face or furrowing his brow, just slightly, but he stayed quiet.<br/><br/>A couple moments later, I spotted the sun creeping closer to the horizon, and decided we ought to head for my house before it got dark. It was clear on the other side of Ar’To, so it was going to take a good half hour to reach it. Erik didn’t say anything on the walk there, just kept looking around at everything like he had back at the clinic.<br/><br/>It was at about that point in the evening that I realized we’d never checked back with Felicia. I mean, she never told us to come back in or anything, but I knew she’d get worried about me if she didn’t see me after I walked out like I did earlier.<br/><br/>I led us down toward the clinic, past the big granaries by the market square where there were still Pokémon bartering over the day’s rations. The Poke coinage may have mostly collapsed following the Shattering, but you can’t stop Pokémon from trading. The Kecleons were a sure sign of that. A lot of what went on in the market those days was Pokémon trying to get food more in line with their proper diet. The granary once tried getting detailed food plans for individual species, but it turned out to be far easier to just give people roughly what they need and let them sort out the details.<br/><br/>We arrived at the clinic just as Felicia was leaving. She shut down and let Aiko take care of things overnight, which… I never really figured out when he slept. <em>If </em>he slept, for that matter. Felicia’s ears perked up when she heard us coming, and I could see her relax her shoulders a bit when she saw us. “About time I heard back from you two,” she said as she stepped out.<br/><br/>I stopped, and thought back to the scene I made when we left. “Hey, Felicia, I need to apologize for storming out-”<br/><br/>She waved it off and just smiled. “You’re fine, you’re close enough to healthy, and you seem to be holding up just fine so far. Now what did they have to say about your little adventure?”<br/><br/>I beamed a huge grin. “They’re going to bring us on! They’re finally giving me a chance to join recon!”<br/><br/>Felicia smiled, but then her eyes shifted to something behind me, and her enthusiasm dropped a bit. “They’re giving <em>both</em> of you a chance. As a team, right? You’re supposed to trust each other.”<br/><br/>“Oh, well, yeah, we’re a team.” I turned to Erik, who looked strangely tense. “After what we went through… I know I can count on him. Right, Erik?”<br/><br/>Erik flinched, and froze up for a second. He looked down, bit his lip and said, “Yeah, you can… you can count on me.”<br/><br/>I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that… he was acting kind of strange. Then again, he’d been a little strange from the moment I met him. Still, I trusted him. I turned back to Felicia, and proudly declared that, “they’re sending us on our examination tomorrow morning!”<br/><br/>It was then Felicia’s turn to freeze up. “<em>Tomorrow?</em>” I nodded, and she sighed. “Can’t even wait one more day to recover… Come by here before you leave, I’ll have some supplies prepared for you. Just make sure the both of you rest well tonight."<br/><br/>I nodded, and we let Felicia finish closing up. A few minutes later, we were back in the farmland, and after passing by the berry orchards, we finally arrived at the little piece of Ar'To that I called home: My garden.<br/><br/>Almost every piece of farmland around was a straightforward, utilitarian affair. Plant the crops, grow the food, feed the town. That was generally how Ventus was. We got things done. Well… when I moved in, and they gave me my little plot of land to start growing herbs, I decided that I was going to be different. I'd grow the herbs… and I'd grow flowers too. It started with a few tulip bulbs, a rose bush, and of course some lilies that my mother sent me off with, but over the four years I’d lived there, I’d made a point of collecting as many flowers from my foraging trips as I could get to take root. It was hardly the wondrous place of color and aromas that I wished it could be, I still had to devote a lot of time and space to the medicinal plants, but wherever I could spare the resources, I put something beautiful in the ground. I had flowers from clusters hundreds of miles away, some of which I had to keep in their own soil just to get the conditions right.<br/><br/>A lot of Pokémon would ask me why I spent so much time and effort on growing flowers when they don’t feed or help anyone, and I’d always just tell them, “they’re beautiful. I think we need a place for beautiful things in our lives”, which, admittedly, is the same reason my mother grew flowers, but I think she’s right about that. When I was in that garden, tending to those flowers… that was when I felt… peaceful. That was where I could go when everything else seemed too much and just work among colors and scents from clusters all across the skies.<br/><br/>“Welcome to my garden.” I said to Erik as I gestured for him to enter. I was so proud to see Erik looking around and smiling, just a bit, as he walked through the vine-ridden terrace at the entrance. I followed behind him and just watched. He walked all around the garden, always holding that gentle little smile. “It’s… really peaceful here,” he said after walking around the edge for a while.<br/><br/>“It’s beautiful, alright. Takes a good bit of work to make it happen, but I think it’s worth it,” I said with pride. “Of course, it’s probably going to be a bit harder to take care of it all now that I’m… that is, <em>we</em>, are going to be on a recon team.”<br/><br/>“Um… about that-” Erik said quietly, but I kept talking.<br/><br/>“I mean, we’ll be flying all across the skies, helping Pokémon, exploring-”<br/><br/>“Look, I-”<br/><br/>“We’ll probably get sent on scouting runs before anything else, but I’m sure we can work our way up the ranks and-”<br/><br/>“<b>Lily, I don’t know if I even </b><em><b>want</b></em> <b>to be part of this!</b>” Erik suddenly burst my bubble with a voice louder than anything I’d heard from him before.<br/><br/>I was stunned. “What? You… you don’t want to join recon?”<br/><br/>“No! Why would you assume that I do?” He nearly shouted, “I don’t even know who I am, I have more to think about than scouting and-”<br/><br/>“What, things more important than saving Pokémon? More important than trying to bring back the land?” I countered, throwing back with just as much force.<br/><br/>“No, that’s not-” he stammered. “Look, you can’t just expect everyone to go throwing themselves into danger like that! I’m not cut out for this!”<br/><br/>“You came with me. You jumped. You <em>wanted </em>to help that Caterpie just as much as I did. I might not have even gone down there if you hadn’t asked if there was something we could do.”<br/><br/>He looked me square in the eyes. “You saw how scared I was back there. I didn’t want to jump, I didn’t want to <em>die</em>. Even now, I don’t know why I did it... I mean, I thought we would just be looking for some lost kid, not hanging for dear life for hours above the goddamn abyss!” He was somewhere between angry and… pleading, “I don’t <em>ever</em> want to go through that again.”<br/><br/>I stood for a moment, and then I quietly asked, “You really wouldn’t do it again? If there was a child in danger, right in front of you, and you had the chance to save them, you wouldn’t do it? Out of fear?”<br/><br/>“You can <em><b>not</b></em> just ask me that! You’re trying to make me look like a villain when all I want is to be<em> safe</em>. This isn’t even about me, this is all <em>you</em>, you’re the one who wants this so bad, not me! You heard the offer and you just assumed I’d be happy to go along because your dream is finally coming true! Can you honestly tell me that you even <em>considered</em> the possibility that I don’t want to join?”<br/><br/>I stepped back, and looked down. I… I hadn’t. I really had just assumed he wanted to do it too. I mean, he followed me to find Vilo, so surely… but no. He didn’t want it. I never even asked him if he did. I sat down, and sighed. “You’re right,” I said, “it’s just that I… I’ve been working for this for years. It’s been my dream since I was a kid. Just… please think about it. And… not just for my sake. There are so many Pokémon in need, and I know that we could do a lot of good together.”<br/><br/>As I spoke, I saw Erik’s anger start to fall away. He started to fidget a bit, and after a minute or two of him biting his lip, rubbing his paws together, and muttering under his breath, he finally sighed, and said, “alright. I’ll… think about it.”<br/><br/>“Thank you. And… I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I should have asked you.”<br/><br/>“Yeah. You should have. But let’s just sleep now. I’m about ready to be done for today.”<br/><br/>I nodded, and led him into the center of the garden. It was a little walled in area, with a roof over some of it. Really, it was only enough to keep my shelves and pantry dry, along with a little bit of space to huddle up in really terrible weather. Otherwise, it was soft grass under the open sky, and I hold that there is no better place to sleep than that, outside of a blizzard. Erik curled up under the roofed bit and just went dead quiet. I wasn't sure if he was asleep, or just lying still, but that wasn't any of my concern.<br/><br/>No, all I had to worry about was my first real chance at joining Recon slipping away from me. As I lay under the starry sky, I thought of all the times I'd tried to join. There were a few times where I'd managed to get another Pokémon or two to join with me, but we were always turned away. I realized then that it was probably because those Pokémon and I never shared the bond the guild was looking for. Not like what I had with Erik… what I hoped I had with Erik.<br/><br/>I looked over where he was sleeping. Aside from the slow rise and fall of his breathing, he was completely still. <em>We have something</em>, I told myself. <em>You don't go through something like that and just walk away.</em><br/><br/>I hoped I was right.<br/>_____<br/><br/>I woke up several times that night. Too worried to sleep properly. I just kept lying there, though. No sense in getting up before I've had enough rest. However, some time before dawn, I popped awake again, and noticed that Erik was gone. I sighed, figuring that he probably ran off on me. I was about to give up on him completely when I saw something in the dirt by the pantry. I walked over, and saw a crude little drawing of a Pikachu's tail, and an arrow pointing to a drawing of a hill.<br/><br/>I looked tailward past the greenery of my garden, and could just barely see a couple nearby hills through the plants. <em>Guess he just went for a walk?</em> I thought. I decided to go find him. I figured if he really wanted to be alone, he wouldn't have given me instructions to find him.<br/><br/>A couple minutes later, I came to the top of a hill that had an outstanding view all the way to the horizon, which was just starting to glow with the light of sunrise. Sure enough, sitting at the top of the hill was Erik. As seemed to be the usual, he was watching, presumably for the sun to rise.<br/><br/>He looked back at me as I came up the hill, but returned his gaze to the horizon once he saw me. "Got my note then?"<br/><br/>I settled into the grass next to him. "Yeah, I found your doodles. Led me straight to you."<br/><br/>"Good. I didn't want you thinking… well that I'd just abandoned you. I just… needed somewhere to think.”<br/><br/>We went quiet for a moment. “What are you thinking about?” I asked.<br/><br/>“Should be pretty obvious. It’s the recon stuff,” he sighed. I didn’t respond; if he wanted to talk about it, he would. Sure enough, a moment later he continued, “I meant what I said last night. I still think you were living in your own head from the moment Ryker gave you the offer. Nobody ever asked me what I wanted… I don’t want to be in danger, and I don’t like being afraid. I’m already terrified enough not being able to remember anything, and the thought of going out there when I don’t even know where I came from is paralyzing...” he sighed, “but there are people- er, <em>Pokémon</em> that need help out there, and… deep down… I do want to help.”<br/><br/>There was a part of me that wanted to start running around shouting for joy, but I forced myself to keep quiet and listen. “And… there’s something else… the core. The dreams we’re having. Our eyes.” He looked at me, and I saw the hint of deep blue in his eyes. I’d forgotten about all that. “Something’s happening to us. I wish I knew what, but… it feels important. Maybe that’s just because I can’t get that barren waste I don’t think I’m going to find out much on my own. More importantly, we’re both tied up in it. One way or another… we’re in this together.”<br/><br/>He looked out at the rising sun, his fur taking on a golden glow in the orange light. “So to answer the question you’re going to ask… I’m coming with you. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to meet every obstacle, but… if I found the courage to go after that kid before, maybe I can find enough to take another leap into the unknown.”<br/><br/><em>“Thank you.” </em>I said, “Really, just… I’ve already gone on and on about how much this means to me, there’s nothing else to say. This is a dream come true.”<br/><br/>“Don’t go thinking it’s a sure thing yet, we’ve still got that exam to do.”<br/><br/>“Oh, come on, we’ve already done the impossible once, there’s no way a little field test will so much as slow us down.” I grinned.<br/><br/>By then, the sun was above the clouds, and the vast skies were blue. “Come on, let’s get some food, we’ve got work to do today!” I started down the hill, and saw a familiar Butterfree flying toward my garden. “Tella!” I called out as I entered.<br/><br/>She turned, as did the four little Caterpie she’d brought with her, and said, “Lily! I heard you were finally up and about. Are you doing alright?”<br/><br/>“Better than you can imagine. Erik and I have been offered a chance to join Recon!” I said. Erik was standing at the entrance, looking nervous.<br/><br/>On seeing him, Vilo separated himself from his siblings and slowly approached. I couldn’t hear very well, but I’m pretty sure I heard him say “thank you for saving me” before bumping Erik with his head, a sign of affection that I knew from working with Tella’s kids before.<br/><br/>Erik wasn’t really sure what to do for a moment, but he eventually smiled and patted the kid’s head. “Yeah, of course.”<br/><br/>I turned back to Tella, and asked about the garden. “It’s doing fine,” she said, “but some of these flowers of yours aren’t doing too well, and I’m not sure why.”<br/><br/>“That’s probably because I’m the only person who knows how to care for them. No offense to you, it’s just that I’m trying to keep flowers alive in soil and climates they never wanted to be in.”<br/><br/>“I’m not about to start complaining about your little collection, the nectars from some of those are just wonderful.”<br/><br/>“I do sometimes forget your ulterior motives for stopping by. Anyway, I need you to look after things today too, if you can. Erik and I need to get to the guild hall for our field exam.”<br/><br/>Tella sighed a little. “Alright, but I can’t keep this up forever, you know. You’re going to have to figure something out if you want your garden tended while you’re out on Recon missions.”<br/><br/>“I… hadn’t thought about that yet,” I said quietly.<br/><br/>“You’ll figure it out. Now, I’m going to get to gardening, you two best be going.”<br/><br/>I turned to Erik, who was playing with Vilo. He stood up, and Vilo called out “wait, where are you going?”<br/><br/>“I’ve got to go do something. Uh, guild business, I suppose,” Erik said.<br/><br/>I swear Vilo’s eyes lit up. “You’re gonna go be a hero again?”<br/><br/>Erik froze, then laughed with a warm smile, and said, “Yeah, I am. Got, you know, hero things to do.”<br/><br/>With that, I grabbed some dried fruit and nuts from my pantry, and we started heading for the guild.<br/><br/>We walked quietly for a while, before I finally remembered something terribly important. I looked at Erik, who was munching away at his breakfast. “We need a name," I told him.<br/><br/>"What?"<br/><br/>"A name for our team. Something for people to recognize us by. Arclight, Crashing Wake, Rolling Thunder, every team worth mentioning has a name. Something evocative and memorable!"<br/><br/>Erik looked up at the clouds rolling by, and seemed lost for a minute. Then, he just said, "Skydrift."<br/><br/>Skydrift… it sounded pretty good. I was just thinking that it would do until we found something really good when I realized the meaning behind it. "You really want to name our team after us hanging for dear life until we nearly died?"<br/><br/>"You said it should be memorable. I don't think there's anything more stuck in my memory than that."<br/><br/>I laughed, he chuckled. It was a good name. Not the most exciting, but it sounded… kind of calm. Like the wind on a nice day, like it was that morning, when we walked through the fields toward our future, together.</p>
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